Ninjas are cool, but pirates have always played a bigger role in popular culture — at least in the West. That’s probably because we know so much about the history of pirates and their lifestyle, and we know almost nothing about ninjas. Ninjas are a mystery. Actually, I should say, ninjas were a mystery until Ask A Ninja came along.
Ask A Ninja is a web video program that answers questions about the ninja lifestyle. Besides explaining issues relating to Ninja history and killing techniques, Ninja also takes the time to explain complex political issues like Network Neutrality — ninja style. And speaking of pirates, his review of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest is the final word on that cinematic “masterpiece” (obviously he thinks Ninjas of the Caribbean would have been a better movie).
Ninja is the creation of Kent Nichols and Douglas Sarine (Sarine plays the Ninja). The made-for-web series debuted in late 2005 and has been gaining popularity steadily since.
In the year-plus since it’s launch the show has evolved from viral video to mainstream media phenomenon. The Ninja creators recently signed a lucrative advertising deal with Federated Media, released the Ask A Ninja DVD, and signed a book deal with Random House. On top of that Ninja was recently named Best Series on YouTube 2006. Take that Lonelygirl!
Perhaps the most interesting part of this story is that the Ninja team are working independently with no Hollywood backing. Just a few years ago it would have been impossible to achieve this level of success with an independently produced series. These days two guys with a video camera and a ninja costume can create a new entertainment franchise with no financing. It makes it all the more strange when we hear network executives marginalize web video and insist that users are not capable of creating programming that people actually want to watch.
There’s no stopping the Ninja. Just ask him, he’ll tell you so himself.